Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 4.1 The definitions of synchronic and diachronic information
Information
Synchronic
Diachronic
1. Refers to
Phenomena here and now
Phenomena long past
2. Meaning
Apparent in the structure of the
message
Hidden behind the structure of the
message
3. Laws obeyed
(a) Laws of physics and chemistry
(a) Laws of physics and chemistry
(b) “Law of Requisite Information
(LRI)”
a
(b) “Law of Requisite Information
(LRI)”
a
(c) “Synchronic laws”
b
(c) “Diachronic laws”
c
(a) “Codality'
d
4. Philosophy
(a) Causality
(b) Dyadic relation
e
(b) Triadic relation
f
(c) Deterministic
g
(c) Arbitrary
h
(d) Knowable
i
(d) Unknowable
i
(e) Orthogonal to diachronic
information
j
(e) Orthogonal to synchronic
information
j
5. Alternative
names
(a) Deterministic (a) Nondeterministic
(b) Ahistorical (b) Historical
(c) Physical (c) Evolutionary
(d) Law-governed (d) Rule-governed
(e) Objective (e) Arbitrary
mandates that a certain minimum level of variety in the internal state of a machine is required for
the machine to perform a complex task, so the proposed
Law of Requisite Information
states that no
problem (machine) can be solved (output) without inputting the minimum amount of requisite
information (input)
b
The laws in physics and chemistry that have been recognized or abstracted from empirical
observations here and now without having to rely on any historical studies. Most laws of physics
and chemistry currently dominating natural sciences appear to be of this nature
c
The regularities of nature that are revealed only when historical records are taken into account
such as the evolutionarily conserved nucleotide sequences of genes belonging to different species
d
“Codality” is a new word that I coined to indicate the “code-mediated” interactions such as the
interactions between hormones and their target genes or between symbols and their meanings
understood by human mind, in contrast to “causality” which is “cause-mediated” interactions
including force- or energy-mediated interactions in physics. “Codality” is related to what Roederer
(2003, 2004) refers to as “information-based interactions” while causality is related to his “force-
driven interactions”
e
The relation between
two
entities, e.g., the electron being attracted by the proton, and two cars
colliding at an intersection, etc.
f
The relation among three entities, e.g., a membrane receptor interacting with an ion channel
mediated by a G-protein, and a Korean communicating with an Italian through a Korean-Italian
interpreter
g
For example, the physicochemical properties of protein domains are more or less completely
determined
by their amino acid sequences
h
For example, the 3-dimensional structures of certain proteins are arbitrary from the point of view
of physics and chemistry since they cannot be completely predicted solely based on the principles
of physics and chemistry
i
When we say that we know something, we usually mean that we can explain that something in
terms of a set of principles, laws, and/or theories. When there are no such principles, laws, or
theories that can be used to explain something, we say that something is
unknowable
. For example,
the beginning (or the origin) of the Universe is
unknowable
from the point of view of the current
laws of physics and chemistry because there is no guarantee that such laws were extant at t
0
j
The
orthogonality
means that synchronic information can vary independently of diachronic
information and
vice versa
, just as the x-coordinate of a point on a 2-dimensional plane can
vary independently of its y-coordinate, and
vice versa
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